


Married Life

by LittleAgr0n



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Character Death, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-15
Updated: 2015-01-15
Packaged: 2018-03-07 17:59:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3177989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleAgr0n/pseuds/LittleAgr0n
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Over from ff.net - Quinn and Rachel follow in the steps of Ellie and Carl from Up! This is their life together from when they get married and follows their ups and downs until their final days</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Promise

"On this special day as we become partners in life, before our family," Quinn looked fleetingly over to her family's side of the church. It was much less full in comparison to the Berry side but it meant a lot that so many members of her family could look past their conservative beliefs and celebrate the day Rachel would become her wife. "Our friends," she looked over to the other side and saw how happy her friends were for her and Rachel and knew that they were as much her family as those on the Fabray side of the room. Quinn looked back at Rachel, into her eyes and carried on. "And each other, I make these commitments of my own free will. I promise to take you into my heart, as you are, and as you will become. I promise to walk by your side and support your dreams. I promise to grow along with you and never keep my secrets or fears from you. I promise to be your best friend and companion on the road to life." The blonde took a deep breath, hoping her emotions had been fully relayed throughout her vows. She needed Rachel to understand that what she was saying was the undying truth. "I will help you to fulfil your dreams and be sensitive to the cares of your heart. I want to spend the rest of my life hearing your thoughts and seeing your dreams come true. I will travel with you through all of life's journeys and I, Quinn Lucy Fabray, want to take you, Rachel Barbra Berry, to be my wife throughout it all."

It took all Rachel had to refrain from kissing Quinn there and there. There was a set time for that, she knew, and so she began reciting her vows to her soon-to-be wife in the hope that it would convey how much love and commitment she had for the blonde in front of her. "I stand here, today, in front of our friends and family to make these life promises to you. I promise to love you passionately in times both good and bad and to always put your needs and desires before my own. I promise to respect you and give you the time and attention that you deserve. I promise to keep an open mind and heart to the changes life may bring to us. To never tear down your hopes and dreams. I promise to keep our relationship alive and exciting, filled with imagination, joy and strength, to never have a dull moment." She paused to wipe tears from her own eyes and saw Quinn do the same. "I will express my thoughts and emotions to you and listen to you in times of joys and sorrow and when you need an ear most. I promise to be the best friend to you that you have and continue to be to me. I promise to give you all of me and to never hold anything back. These are my promises that I, Rachel Barbra Berry, make to you, Quinn Lucy Fabray. I am yours; completely and forever."

Both women had melted at the words of the other and their loving gazes were interrupted by the wedding officiate. "Do you, Quinn Lucy Fabray, take Rachel Barbra Berry to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"And do you, Rachel Barbra Berry, also take Quinn Lucy Fabray to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"I now pronounce you Mrs and Mrs Berry-Fabray. You may now kiss your bride."

And so the two newly-weds shared their first kiss as a married couple.

XoxoXoxoX

"Let me welcome to the floor, Mrs and Mrs Berry-Fabray for their first dance as a married couple"

The pair walked to the middle of the dance floor, arm in arm and eyes bright. As the first notes of Can't Help Falling In Love began to play, Quinn pulled Rachel close, closing her eyes and the two of them began to sway to the music in the arms of the person they love the most.

XoxoXoxoX

"Quinn, baby, put me down. You'll hurt your back."

"No chance, Rachel. I'm fine, you're as light as a feather. Besides, it' tradition to carry my new wife across the threshold."

"I'm never going to get tired of hearing you calling me your wife"

"And I'm never going to get tired of saying it. I love you."

"I love you too, baby." Rachel leaned up to kiss Quinn on the lips as Quinn stepped into their new house. Quinn put Rachel down and chased her up the stairs ready to begin their first night as a married couple.


	2. Let's Redecorate

"Quinn, please be careful with those wires-"

"I've got this, baby. I've done it a million times before." Quinn waved Rachel off with an air of superiority.

"Have you remembered to turn off the mains electricity?" Came the pointed reply.

Quinn opened her mouth as if to argue but closed her mouth and slumped around the corner to switch it off before actually beginning to repair the electrics.

XoxoXoxoX

Today Quinn and Rachel had decided to paint their lounge. It wasn't going to be anything too fancy; just cream walls that could later hold photos of memories old and new.

"Quinn, don't you dare come anywhere near me with that paintbrush." Rachel knew that her request was no use. The blonde was slowly getting closer and closer, paintbrush in hand. Rachel could see that Quinn had a look in her eyes which could only be described as determination mixed with mischief. Her mouth was set in a smirk that was merging into a grin. "I'm warning yo-" But it was too late. The tiny brunette now had a stripe of paint stretching from her forehead, down her nose and to her chin. She set her jaw and her facial expression now matched her wife's. "Oh, it is on, Fabray."

"Berry-Fabray" Quinn corrected Rachel who now held a paint roller. A massive paint roller which was dripping in the cream paint. "Hey, no fair, Rae. That's a step too far." Quinn's face dropped.

All Rachel could manage was a smirk. She knew Quinn had only said that in an attempt to try and get out of something she was going to lose. "Now, now, Quinnie, don't back out. Haven't you learnt to not start something you can't finish?" Rachel took a step closer. "Or not to give what you can't take?" She took another step. "It's just a little taste of your own medicine, that's all." Rachel teased. "Besides, all is fair in love and war, honey." With that, the little diva tore after her favourite blonde, hot on her tail. She got within a step and an arm's length and just leaped, taking them both down to the ground, laughing. Rachel straddled the blonde's thighs while holding down her shoulders and held the roller over Quinn's forehead. She bent down, her nose tickling Quinn's ear and whispered "do you surrender?"

To which the bold reply of "Never." Was replied. So, naturally, Quinn got a paint-soaked roller to the face in a similar fashion to how she got Rachel earlier. The thing was, Rachel was never one to half-ass anything; even when it came to a play-fight with her partner Hence the reason Quinn didn't just get a paint-facial but also carried on down her chest and abdomen. Rachel slowed the roller as it reached the top of Quinn's trousers and heard the blonde whimper a quick "I surrender" and flipped Rachel onto her back, her eyes darkening, and reversed the roles so it was her straddling Rachel. She leaned down to capture Rachel's lips with her own and the two spent the majority of their afternoon seeing who could make the other climax the most.

XoxoXoxoX

"Come on, Rachel, at least try to help." Quinn pleaded exasperatedly. She was a little short of breath and pink in the face from the exertion of carrying her armchair up their porch steps and into their newly redecorated lounge. Quinn heard Rachel huff and stomp her foot.

"Quinn, you know full well I'm trying my best to help. You're just a lot stronger than me. We've been over this numerous time-"

"Honey?"

"What, Quinn?"

"I'm kidding, babe. You're just really cute when you get all frustrated like that." Quinn smirked.

"You're incorrigible."

"You love it."

Rachel sighed. "No, I love you. That's just an extra part that I have to put up with."

"Awwhhh" Quinn sarcastically clasped her hands to her heart. "I love you, too."

XoxoXoxoX

Rachel stood in the front of their front garden, painting their new mailbox. Once she had coated it in white and it had dried, she slowly got to the more important part. First, she neatly wrote out Quinn's name in a hazel colour that matched her eyes. Rachel's own flickered up to see Quinn leaning on the mailbox and watching her adoringly. She blushed and ducked her head before using the same font to write out a purple "ɤ" sign. She then finished it off with her own name in pink.

Quinn saw that Rachel had finished and so she moved so that she could properly admire her wife's work. As she lifted the lower of her crossed arms, she felt something sticky as she pulled away. Her heart filled with dread. She thought she'd ruined her wife's work. Where her hand had been was now a hazel print of Quinn's hand. Rachel just smiled, painted her own hand pink and printed her own just below Quinn's with the fingers just overlapping.


	3. Living and Loving Life

It was their first wedding anniversary and Rachel and Quinn didn't want to do something too fancy so they decided on a day in the park and a picnic. It was sweet and they could use it to celebrate Rachel getting cast as Fanny in Funny Girl as well as their anniversary. Rachel ran to the top of an empty hill and sat down in the shade of a tree, after laying out their picnic blanket and putting the basket in one corner. Quinn came up at a leisurely pace, smiling at the excitement of her wife. She shook her head lovingly and lay down so she could see the fluffy clouds against the blue sky. Rachel shuffled over to her, snuggling into her side and the two of them began pointing out shapes made by the clouds. One was a dinosaur, one an elephant with an extremely long trunk and another was a slightly oddly shaped pear. Quinn was interrupted from her own cloud watching as her wife poked her and squealed with enthusiasm. The blonde looked to where Rachel was pointing and found an almost perfect turtle-shaped-cloud. Rachel's giggles were contagious and Quinn joined in her laughter. This was a perfect day. Neither of them could have chosen a better way to spend their day.

XoxoXoxoX

Rachel was living the dream. She had played a few characters on off-broadway shows since graduating high school. She had played the roles of Leisel in The Sound of Music, Sophie in Mamma Mia and now she was playing her dream role of Fanny Brice, actually on Broadway. She loved the stage so much; the thrill of singing and acting on stage couldn't be compared to anything else. She also loved her fans. That was one of the best parts of her jobs. It was why Quinn always met her at the backdoor of the theatre with a handful of gold stars that Rachel would sign and give out to her fans. It had become her signature thing to do.

Stars became an even bigger part of Rachel's life as she got older. Whenever she was somewhere where she could see shooting stars, she would stay up for ages wishing on them for whatever she wanted then. More recently it was for a holiday. A special holiday. Quinn only had a small job that involved taking photos of families who wanted them. She didn't want them to be unaffordable nor did she want them being too high in price so she did shoots for a small sum. She got enough families to have the money to get by and some of her personal photos would sell for a lot of money but it wasn't much and it wasn't a regular income. Most of it went into bills and food shopping and camera equipment. Rachel covered the rest of their living costs and it left them enough to live comfortably. It wasn't enough to go on a big holiday. Annually they would visit home during the winter and stay somewhere small for a week during the summer for breaks in work. They didn't have enough to go on a big holiday anywhere anytime soon so that's what Rachel wished for. She wished on every star she saw in the hope that she and Quinn would one day go to Venezuela and get to Angel Falls. Rachel mad up her mind that she would label a jar at home to collect savings in for this very purpose. She wanted it so much and she knew Quinn needed it too.

XoxoXoxoX

Many of Quinn and Rachel's days were spent apart from each other so they made the most of times when they could actually spend time together. They would have dinner as much as possible and then spend the evening messing about around the house until it was time to calm down. Then, depending on their levels of fatigue, they would either read their books in their armchairs or in bed together. Whichever place was their choice, they would always read hand in hand.


	4. Plans For New Life

It was the day that marked Quinn and Rachel's fourth wedding anniversary. Since their first it had become a tradition of sorts to take the day off work and go to the park for a picnic on their hill and watch the clouds for hours on end. Most often they'd stay and watch the sun set below the horizon, wrap themselves up and stay as long as they could in each other's arms and watch the stars.

Now, though, they were sitting, watching the clouds. Quinn had been doing a lot of thinking recently. Her relationship with Rachel had flourished and she constantly found her mind wandering to children. She and Rachel had touched upon the subject before. It had been established that having had Beth, Quinn was no longer able to have children due to complications during labour. They wouldn't have a surrogate if it came to that because Rachel couldn't bear what happened to her happening to their hypothetical child. Adoption was a bridge they'd cross if it came to it but Quinn doubted they would have to do that.

Focusing back on the clouds, Quinn couldn't see anything that didn't slightly resemble a baby. A plant shrub, a baby giraffe, an actual baby. Quinn had to mention it. She couldn't hold it in any longer. "Rach, I've been wondering, what do you think about kids?"

"Do you mean generally or about us having them?" Rachel questioned.

"Us having them. Well… you having them."

"Oh my gosh, Quinn, I'm so glad you brought it up." Rachel sat up and crossed her legs. Quinn followed suit. "I've been wanting to talk about this for ages. I just haven't known how to bring it up. I didn't want to seem insensitive about Beth and everythin-"

"Stop. You wouldn't have been being insensitive. I wouldn't have even thought that that's what you were being. There are times I might find it difficult to talk about but I won't shut you out completely. It may take a while but I will come around. You don't have to worry about that, okay?" Quinn looked up to Rachel's eyes to make sure she understood.

"Okay." Rachel confirmed with a curt nod of the head.

"Now then, would you like to go through IVF?" Quinn altered the subject slightly.

"I would love to. But Quinn…" Rachel carried on hesitantly, "when would we start with all the tests?"

"Would it be silly to suggest straight away?"

"Of course not!" Rachel squealed and rolled onto Quinn. "I was hoping you'd say that." She leaned down to kiss her wife. "I love you."

"I love you too, baby."

XoxoXoxoX

Everything was becoming all too real. Rachel and Quinn were awaiting their news for the tests done on Rachel. Both of them were trying to contain their excitement in case they had bad news. Though with Quinn now infertile due to surgery, it was hard to believe that neither of them would be able to have children. The odds were very low.

"Rachel Berry-Fabray to room 43 with Dr Josephs, please. Rachel Berry-Fabray to room 43 with Dr Josephs, thank you."

Quinn and Rachel both took a deep breath and held onto each other's hands for dear life. This was it. All or nothing. They walked around the corner to find room 43 and took another deep breath before entering. "Good morning, Dr Josephs" Quinn was the first to find her voice.

"Yes, good morning, Dr Josephs." Rachel managed to get out

"Hello Mrs and Mrs Fabray. Would you both like to take a seat?" Dr Josephs' face gave nothing away as to whether or the news would be good or bad.

"Thank you." Rachel supplied.

"Yes, thank you. Please call us Quinn and Rachel."

"Well, Rachel," Dr Josephs looked at Rachel, "Quinn," she looked at the blonde. "I'm afraid I have some bad news." She paused to let the two process it. "Rachel, you have very mild hyperprolactinemia. Prolactin is a hormone that is produced by the pituitary gland. High prolactin levels inhibit ovulation. In your case, this part isn't the problem. You ovulate regularly but the hormone, progesterone, which is produced after ovulation, is not produced in a high enough quantity. We call this luteal phase defect. It means that the uterine lining is unable to have an embryo implant. I'm so sorry." Dr Josephs looked at the two across from her. The brunette looked even smaller than she did normally. Her tiny body was being racked by silent sobs. The blonde next to her looked to be trying her damned hardest to keep it together and stay strong for her. She was whispering comforts into her wife's ear as she held her. "I can leave you two alone for a bit if you would like?" The doctor offered.

"No, it's okay." The blonde was the one to speak. Rachel didn't even move or acknowledge that anything had been said. "We should probably get back home and do this somewhere more comfortable. Thank you." Quinn stood up, lifting Rachel with her and carried her to the car to drive her home. It was going to be hard to stay strong for the both of them. She'd just have to cry where Rachel couldn't see or hear her.

XoxoXoxoX

Rachel had spent the last week off work, lying on bed, her hands wrapped around her stomach. Quinn had also taken the time off work to comfort her wife. It broke her to see her wife hurting so much. So she made it her mission to try to cheer Rachel up. Maybe it would distract her a bit and cheer her up a bit too. She knew that Rachel had been wanting to go on holiday. For years she'd had a scrap book full of pictures and articles and plans of how to get to Angel Falls. Turning to the last page, she saw a sketch of a glass jar with "Angel Falls" written on it. So Quinn went out to buy a large glass container that could be filled with money. She stuck the label on it with sticky tape and left it on the table in their lounge.

Quinn picked up Rachel's adventure book and walked into their room with it behind her back. She gently shook Rachel's shoulder with one hand to get her to surface and acknowledge her. Once she had her attention, she pulled the adventure book out from behind her and put it into Rachel's direct line of view. It was the first time in what seemed like so long that she had seen a faint glimmer of a smile on her wife's lips. The two of them sat on the bed together looking through the scrap book. It seemed that with each turn of the page Rachel was feeling slightly brighter. Once they reached the end, Rachel visibly slumped. Her distraction had finished. What was to do other than to go back and lie in a pool of her own sorrow? It was then that she felt Quinn leave her side. She let out a little whimper. Now all her comfort was gone. She looked up and saw her wife coming back with something else behind her back. This time something larger was pulled from behind her back. It was a large glass container labelled with "Angel Falls" with a few dollar notes in it. Rachel couldn't hold it in. She'd been harbouring so much sadness that her new-found glee rippled out of her mouth in an infectious giggle. She could distract herself. Give her something else to live for, for the moment. And so Quinn laughed with her wife and they both knew that things would start to come around again.


	5. Seven Years of Bad Luck

Rachel was getting excited. The Angel Falls jar was getting fuller by the day. This was going to be brilliant. She could go on holiday soon with the person she loved the most.

XoxoXoxoX

Rachel and Quinn were on the drive back to New York from Ohio. They had spent Christmas with their families and were ready to come back home. Everything was getting back to normal. They knew that neither of them could have children and after the devastation they had with Rachel two years ago, they'd decided to not have children. It was a choice made by the both of them that they were happy with.

Most car journeys the pair had together were similar. They'd plug in one of their iPods and play it as loud as they wanted and sing along to whatever came up next. They loved car journeys. They were about to get to their favourite part of their I've Had the Time of My Life duet when they felt a sudden bump. Their singing came to a rather abrupt stop. Their car was signalling a flat tire. The two of them immediately deflated, knowing that it would take almost $200 out of their savings if they wanted it replacing at their regular place; somewhere they completely trusted. They were going to have to dig into the Angel Falls savings.

XoxoXoxoX

Once again they'd had to break into their Angel Falls savings. This time it was to pay medical bills.

FLASHBACK

"Quinn, it isn't safe to be up there. You'll fall and break your neck." Rachel shouted up to her wife who had spent the entire day in the tree in their back garden.

"Rachel, please. We've been meaning to move all these scrap pieces of wood for ages. Let's be honest, we would have never got around to taking them to a scrap yard. That's why I'm making use of it all. I can make us a treehouse and we can decorate it and have romantic times up here. It'll be wonderful. Trust me, I made one with my dad when I was younger. I know what I'm doing." Quinn was adamant.

"While I agree it could be romantic, there's a reason you made one when you were a child. They're made for children. It won't hold the weight of two adults. In fact, I doubt it'll even hold the weight of o-" Rachel stopped her rant when she heard a mighty crash as her wife fell to the ground. She'd tried to tell her. Rachel rushed over to where her wife had fallen, her leg lying at an odd angle. She winced. Gentling the tone of her voice, Rachel spoke to her wife again. "Quinn, honey, I think your leg's broken. We're going to have to get you to hospital." Rachel began lifting Quinn from her back. "C'mon. Let's get going. I can take most of your weight but I'll need a bit of help."

"Thanks, Rae." Quinn winced. She sounded apologetic until she added, "But you were wrong. I didn't fall and break my neck." The blonde managed a small cheeky grin through her tears.

"Oh god, even in this state, you're incorrigible."

"You love it."

END FLASHBACK

And so Rachel and Quinn found themselves in the hospital, Quinn occupying a bed and Rachel sitting by her side waiting for Quinn to be discharged, a good few thousand dollars poorer thanks to their insurance not being fully up to date.

That was why they had to break into their Angel Falls savings once again.

XoxoXoxoX

The last seven years really hadn't been in the Berry-Fabrays' favour. First came the news about Rachel's infertility. Then, having picked themselves up and started saving for the holiday of a lifetime, they'd had to use the money on fixing a tire and medical bills. Now, they had to repair their roof. They'd had a wonderfully warm summer. It'd had been so hot. They'd spent most of their free time outside whether it was going to their park for a picnic, spending time in their garden, going for walks or just spending the day out somewhere. Rachel and Quinn thought that their bad luck was finally out. Unfortunately, whoever or whatever was in charge of luck didn't think the same. After good weather comes a storm and with a storm can come disaster. This time disaster came to Quinn and Rachel.

August brought a massive thunderstorm. The biggest thunderstorm both Berry-Fabrays had ever seen. They were out at one of Rachel's shows as it happened so thankfully they were at no risk of danger. However, had they been at home, the chance of survival would have been very slim. The wind that came with the weather was particularly strong. Their tree in the back garden, the one that Quinn tried to build a treehouse in, was largely affected. It had been blown completely over. It had blown completely over, bang slap in the middle of their house. So now, their roof was completely broken and they had a tree in their house. Thankfully their insurance covered most of the damage done. It would leave a few hundred dollars that they'd have to pay. They'd also lose money staying in a hotel while their house was fixed.

Once again, they'd had to break into their Angel Falls savings. It seemed like their holiday was never going to happen.


	6. Remembering What They Lived For

Quinn and Rachel had aged well. Really well. They were now in their late seventies but seemed as youthful as ever. Rachel wasn't on the stage anymore but her fans were still out there. Should she ever meet any, they would still receive a signed by Rachel Berry-Fabray, herself.

It was spring and they two hadn't cleaned their house fully in quite a while so Rachel and Quinn decided on a good old spring clean. It took them a lot longer than it used to. Their joints were a lot stiffer and their movements were a lot less fluid so things took more time. What had stayed the same, however, was they would always listen to music as they cleaned. The both of them were busy sweeping on either side of their lounge when Can't Help Falling In Love began to play. That song held many happy memories for the married couple. It was their first dance as wives. As if drawn together like magnets, Rachel and Quinn met together in the middle of the room. They held each other close once again and swayed to the music. They struggled to keep up with the flow of the music because of their rickety joints but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that they were in the arms of the person they loved most.

XoxoXoxoX

A day on and Quinn and Rachel were still cleaning. It was their last day and they'd decided that it was a dusting day. As she was dusting the shelves of the cabinet, Quinn found a picture of a young Rachel. She was stood in her childhood park with the biggest grin on her face. Behind her was a metal frame of an aeroplane. Quinn remembered Rachel telling her all about that day.

"I think that that was taken on my fifth birthday. My dads took me to the park for a day. This was the where 'adventurous Rachel' was at her peak. I spent the entire day on that plane frame. I was pretending to fly to Angel Falls. That's probably where the want to go there stemmed from. I must've seen it on TV or something. Anyway, if I wasn't on the plane, I was running around, pretending I was in the jungle or in a desert. When it was time to leave, I threw the biggest tantrum. I wanted to stay there forever. Of course, now, I know that's impractical, but then I was adamant that I would stay. So my dads feigned leaving until I ran to catch them up to go back home. I made them promise me we could go back the day after."

It made Quinn remember. They'd had plans to go to Angel Falls but it seemed that life had just got in the way. They had time, now though. And she could probably find the money somewhere.

The next day, a week from their anniversary, Quinn went to the local travel agent to purchase flights to Venezuela and a place to stay as close to Angel Falls as she could. This would be the best anniversary gift she'd ever got for her wife. Rachel would love her even more than she did right there and then.

XoxoXoxoX

A week on and it was Quinn and Rachel's wedding anniversary. As always, they were going to their hill in the park. Not once had they broken tradition. They couldn't see themselves breaking tradition anytime soon, either. The Berry-Fabrays weren't going to let old-age stop them if they could help it.

Quinn got out of the driving seat, toddled around to the passenger side of the car and opened the door for Rachel. Quinn could be romantic and, when she was, Rachel loved it. It was the same as the past years they'd done this up and until Quinn refused to let Rachel carry the picnic basket. The blonde had put the plane tickets in there and didn't want the surprise to be ruined. Rachel looked at her wife in suspicion but didn't say anything. Instead, she took her wife's arm and allowed her to be led along the long path to their hill.

Partway along the path, Rachel became short of breath. It was odd but she didn't want to make Quinn worry. She didn't want to ruin today. So she soldiered on. As they got closer to their hill, she felt worse and worse. She had beads of sweat on her brow, she didn't feel fully awake from last night's sleep, her stomach felt like it was being stabbed repeatedly, her back felt similar to her stomach and her heart was physically aching. She got halfway up the hill before collapsing in pain, clutching her chest.

Quinn dropped to the ground with her wife, crouching and trying to get a response from Rachel. The tiny woman was in too much pain to answer. Quinn just heard short, struggling breaths. As quick as her arms could move, Quinn whipped her phone out of her pocket to call an ambulance.

The ambulance arrived within five minutes. The longest five minutes in Quinn's life. The most physically painful five minutes in Rachel's. Quinn got into the ambulance after Rachel and they were rushed to hospital.


	7. An End of an Era

Rachel had had a heart attack. She'd survived it in the moment but her health was clearly deteriorating quickly. It seemed, that she only had a number of days left.

Since the incident on the hill, Quinn hadn't left her wife's side. Until now, anyway. She had left to get some spare clothes for herself and some comfortable clothes for Rachel, should she want or need them. It had been hard for Quinn. Hard didn't even begin to cover it. She knew it would be heart-breaking for her wife but the impact it was having on her was indescribable. She knew she was going to lose her wife and the pain was unbearable. She didn't want to think about it but there are times when you just can't help it. The blonde thought about her memories with the brunette and how many more Rachel deserved to get but wouldn't. She was in pain and she felt awful because it was like she was mourning her wife who wasn't even dead yet.

The plan was to go home and get clothes but Quinn didn't leave with just them. She picked up Rachel's adventure book and the flight tickets. On her way back to the hospital she also stopped off at a local shop to buy a helium-filled gold star balloon and some ribbon.

When Quinn reached the hospital, she didn't go straight into Rachel's room. Quinn rolled up the Venezuela tickets and tied them with the ribbon to the gold star balloon and sent it through the door to where Rachel was sitting.

Rachel managed a weak smile and slowly reached to grab the balloon. The brunette opened the roll of paper at a painfully slow speed. Once she saw what it was, a the saddest smile crossed her lips. "oh, Quinn…"

"Hey you" Quinn sauntered into the room and sat down by her wife. "I got these for our anniversary." The next part was agonisingly familiar. She pulled out Rachel's adventure book out from behind her back and put it on her wife's lap. "I thought we could live our holiday through your book. We don't have to wait that way." Quinn swallowed her tears and the lump in her throat. She reached out to pick up the scrap book but was stopped by a soft hand on hers. Her hazel eyes locked onto those mocha ones she knew so well and wrapped her hand around Rachel's.

Rachel gripped her wife's hand as tightly as she could. She didn't want to let go. She didn't want to risk forgetting Quinn's hand in hers. She wouldn't forget the way they slotted together. She couldn't let herself do that. Rachel brought her spare hand up and cupped Quinn. The brunette traced her wife's jaw. It wasn't as defined as it used to be but it was still Quinn's and that was all that mattered. It was so familiar. Rachel can remember the hours she spent kissing that jawline. It choked her up. She didn't want to be thinking about the thing's she'd miss. She needed to be thinking about now. So she lifted her head to kiss Quinn's forehead before pressing her own forehead against her wife's. "I love you, Quinn."

"Of course you do, I'm irresistible." The blonde joked. It was worth a try. All she wanted to hear was Rachel laugh one last time. It worked.

Rachel chuckled lightly. "You're incorrigible."

Quinn smiled. "You love it."

"I do. I really do. I love you."

XoxoXoxoX

Rachel had always told Quinn that she was brave. She used to believe it. Now she didn't. How could she? Losing Rachel had broken her. She didn't go out. She didn't talk to anyone. She just sat in Rachel's armchair in their lounge, inhaling what was left of her wife's scent and reading Rachel's adventure scrap book with a deflated gold-star balloon at her feet. Quinn didn't feel brave, she felt cowardly.

Looking back, Quinn had always thought she'd be the one to go first. Or both she and Rachel would pass away at pretty similar times. The latter idea seemed more reasonable. They'd always had a connection. Although she did used to think the first one would be the way it would go. She had been an awful person, even if it was a long time ago. Rachel had been the most wonderful person for as long as Quinn had known her. She thought Rachel deserved a longer life than her. As a punishment for her cruelty as an adolescent, Quinn believed she would be the first to die. She thought that death was the worst form of punishment. Now, she knew that wasn't the case. Death wasn't close to the worst punishment. Losing the person you love is the worst punishment that could happen to a person. Quinn believed her past had caught up with her future and this was her penalty. The penalty of a broken heart.


End file.
